After years of rising costs and delays, the Navy’s carrier version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is expected to reach initial operational capacity in 2018.

It achieved another milestone in early 2017, when F-35Cs arrived at Naval Air Station LeMoore in California, the Navy’s first Joint Strike Fighter base.

The F-35C’s arrival will come after the Joint Strike Fighter was successfully trapped and launched aboard the carrier Abraham Lincoln in September.

While the first F-35C squadron is not expected to deploy until 2021, the initial operating capability expected next year will serve as a proving ground and demonstration of the jet’s capabilities.

The F-35C is expected to not only offer upgrades in stealth and strike capability, but its technology will also allow it to serve as a hub for information distribution among other, older aircraft in the sky, according to the Navy.

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Geoff is the editor of Navy Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.

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